


"You know, I had a life before I met you and Oliver."

by gonzolux



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Felicity is not a damsel, Friendship, His Girl Friday, Hurt/Comfort, Women Being Awesome, some guys are bad news
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-23
Updated: 2014-03-23
Packaged: 2018-01-16 17:00:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1354933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gonzolux/pseuds/gonzolux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Felicity did have a life before joining Team Arrow. And it's time to get a little of that back. But sometimes people aren't what they seem and you need your team to help you out.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"You know, I had a life before I met you and Oliver."

**Author's Note:**

> My first Arrow story, so thanks for reading! I would love any comments or feedback good or bad. I really want everyone to know that Felicity is not a damsel!
> 
> There is some non-consensual stuff that happens, but it's nothing that graphic. 
> 
> Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thank you to everyone who makes Arrow!

"You know, I had a life before I met you and Oliver." 

Last week Felicity had said those words to Diggle, but why couldn't she have a life again? Or at least one date? 

Oliver hadn't been really into his normal crime fighting routine as of late, and he wouldn't let her do as much as she could to find Slade. Something about wanting to keep her safe. As if she didn't just get shot a few weeks ago while doing Team Arrow work. Hmph. It was time to have a distraction.

Okay, a date was a great idea, but when was the last time Felicity had even seen a guy that wasn't Diggle, Oliver, or Roy? Looks like it was time to hit up the coffee shops and bookstores until her blonde hair caught somebody's eye.

Two soy chai lattes and one new Chuck Klosterman book later, Felicity had found a date. His name was Derek, he worked for a law firm as a paralegal, and he also thought that Klosterman's take on roadtrips sounded ridiculous but fun. His forehead crinkled when he laughed and Felicity noticed his hazel eyes shining when he smiled. 

~ 

After a quick trip to the bathroom to check a few details out about Derek on her phone, Felicity came out smiling and asked if he'd like to go out on the weekend. Derek said he'd pick her up at her place at 7 pm on Friday for dinner.

At the Foundry on Thursday night, Felicity addressed her team. "So, um, I have a date tomorrow night so I won't be available for a few hours. And I know it's super dangerous right now with Slade on the loose, but I just need a chance to go out, do something social, not that time with you all isn't social, but -"

Diggle cut in, "Felicity we get it. You deserve some fun. Did you look into the guy's background? "

"Of course. He works at a law firm downtown and he wants to take me to my favorite restaurant!" 

"Oh, that Indian place on 22nd?"

"Yes, but don't you dare think about stalking me, Dig. I promise to text you all when I'm home safely. Or if the night doesn't go well, I'll probably end up back here." 

Throughout this exchange, Oliver had furrowed his brow and looked eager to jump in but Sara had grabbed his hand and shot him a look warning him to keep out. 

He finally spoke up though,"Be careful. And put this distress beacon somewhere accessible. And don't look at me like I'm crazy. You'd know I'd plant it on you when you weren't looking if you didn't take it now." 

Felicity grimaced, but took the beacon from Oliver's hand and put it in her purse. 

"Now you sound crazy if you didn't before," she quipped with a smile.

~

At 6:57 pm, Felicity's doorbell rang and she went downstairs to the front door get it. She checked herself out in the hall mirror. Her coral knee length dress was all in order as were her loose blondes waves. She grabbed a sweater in case she got cold and opened the door. 

~ 

After eating her favorite Indian dish, saag paneer, Felicity thought a walk would be nice. And so she and Derek walked through Grant Park discussing their favorite quotes from Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs. It was one of the best first dates she'd had in years, and she was seriously considering a second one. But it was already 10:30 pm, and she wanted to do some more research on Slade's whereabouts before going to bed.  
Even with this date going so well, Slade still needed to be found.

"Derek, this has been really lovely, and I would be so happy to do it again."

"I completely agree."

"But I need to get home now. I have some work to do that's rather urgent in nature."

"I was hoping this night would end differently." 

Suddenly Derek grabbed her upper arm and Felicity found herself being dragged towards the trees. Her instincts told her to pull back, but she also knew that her best chance of escape would come when Derek wasn't expecting it. With this thought, she resisted and reserved her strength for the right moment.

Derek pushed her up against a tree while he hissed, "I thought we'd be doing this at your apartment, but I guess the park will have to do."  
He used his body to keep her pinned in place, and with both hands he held her face roughly. Knowing that allowing him to kiss her would distract him, Felicity went along with it. For exactly four seconds, Derek stuck his tongue forcefully into her mouth.

Felicity saw her window, and she seized it. With all her available force, she shoved her knee up into Derek's groin with a yell. Before he could even respond, Felicity had slammed his head against another tree. Derek fell to the ground with a thud. 

Flight took ahold of Felicity, and kicking off her heels to move faster, she ran towards home. It was late, so there wasn't much traffic and she barely stopped at crosswalks. A few blocks from her house, she stumbled unused to running barefoot. Cursing her weak ankles, Felicity kept going until she saw her car parked outside her building. 

Her purse was on the ground in the park, but ever resourceful she kept a spare car key stuck with a magnet under her rear fender. She grabbed it and got in her Mini Cooper. As soon as she closed the door, she realized she was shaking but that driving was the only viable option. Derek would wake up and he knew where she lived. 

~

Ten minutes later she was at the Foundry, where she parked in the alley. She hobbled to the external door and punched in the code. Felicity wasn't sure who she would find, but hopefully whoever was there could make the stairs suddenly a slide instead of a torture device for her throbbing ankle. More importantly, she knew she was safe now. 

"Hello? I need some help!" she yelled somewhat shakily.

It was Oliver who answered first, "Felicity? What's wrong?" Even as he said this, she could hear his voice growing louder and suddenly he was coming up the stairs two at a time. 

The top of the stairs was in near darkness, so Oliver couldn't see that she was barefoot or smeared with dirt from her confrontation with Derek. 

"I, um, fell and twisted my ankle. I need to talk to Sara. She's here right?" 

"Yes, but she's in the shower. Are we going to stay up here?"

"I was kinda hoping you could give me a piggyback ride or carry me or let me lean on you or -"

Without hesitating, Oliver scooped up Felicity, being careful of her head in the narrow passage. He made his way down the stairs, but as soon as they hit the light Oliver gasped quite audibly. 

"Felicity, where are your shoes? Why are you covered in dirt? Is that blood on your neck? What happened to you?!"

She really didn't want to have to tell the story twice, so she murmured, "Let's wait for Sara," and put her head against his collarbone. 

Oliver didn't say anything else, but gently sat her down on the metal table to get a better look at her injuries. He stood in front of her, put his hands on her shoulders, and looked at her with such concern that Felicity almost had to look away. 

"Can I do anything right now?" asked Oliver as if he needed to have a task to keep from going crazy with anticipation.

Felicity considered what could possibly make her feel better, but too many thoughts were swirling through her head. Was Derek still passed out? Had he made it to her apartment? Was there more meaning to this attack than it first seemed? 

In the end, she said nothing, but took one of Oliver's hands, squeezed lightly and held on. Fortunately, he got the message that she wasn't ready to talk yet. He hopped up on the table next to her and held her hand patiently waiting for Sara to appear at any moment. 

A few minutes later, Sara came out of the shadows that hid the bathroom wearing yoga pants and a tank top, drying her hair with a towel as she walked. But as soon as she saw Felicity disheveled and clearly not okay, Sara dropped her towel and hurried over. 

"Hey, what's going on?" 

Felicity knew what she had to say and that it would make her friends very angry. Her words had to be chosen carefully so that Oliver didn't run out the door to find the bastard before she finished her story.

"So you guys know I had a date tonight. Well it was all going so well, I was even considering a second date, but when I said I needed to go home it all went downhill. We were walking in Grant Park, and suddenly Derek grabbed me, pushed me up against a tree and - you are not going to like this part."

"I don't like any of it already," Sara declared as Oliver squeezed Felicity's hand tighter.

"I knew my best chance of escaping was to try when he was least expecting it. So I let him kiss me. I played along and I seized my opportunity and I um, kneed him in the groin and slammed his head against a neighboring tree. Last I saw he was passed out in the park. I kicked off my heels and I ran and ran and ran until I got to my car. I pulled out my spare key from under the fender and drove here. "

"Whoa, go Felicity!" whooped Sara, "Looks like training was a good idea."

"What happened to your ankle?" asked Oliver.

"I rolled it while running because I'm not used to being barefoot. I should also mention that my purse is in the park. And he picked me up at my house so he knows where I live.  
Sara, I want you to go find him and make sure he doesn't do this to anyone else. You used to make a habit of going after men who attacked women. Please don't kill him; just teach him a lesson.  
Oliver, I need you here to help me while we trace the GPS chip in my phone to this asshat. Also, I don't want you to kill anyone else for me."

Oliver was clearly used to being in charge, but this was Felicity's problem and how she wanted things was the way it would go. Sara was already walking towards her Canary suit. Oliver looked a bit anxious that he wasn't going out there too. 

"Hey, Felicity you did a really good job. I'm so glad you got back here." With these words, Oliver let go of her hand, and rolled her desk chair over to her so she could get to work. 

Within two minutes, Felicity was ready to track Derek, and Sara was looking over her shoulder at a photo of him. 

"He's about 5'10'', he didn't appear to have any weapons, and he's obviously a creep." 

Sara squeezed Felicity's shoulder lightly, "I'll make sure he knows never to attack another woman again."

With a light clang of metal, Sara was out the door into the night.

As she activated the GPS tracker, Felicity swiveled towards Oliver, "Thank you for staying with me. I didn't want to be alone, and as much as I love Sara, you and Dig are my best friends. And Dig is in um, another country likely. Or maybe he's right here in a secret location.  
Point is, I'm glad you are here. And there's something so awesome about women defending other women. So let's catch this douchebag!" 

Felicity turned back around before Oliver could say anything. She switched on the comms and began giving Sara directions. 

~ 

It only took Sara twenty minutes to find the still-passed out Derek in the stand of trees. She woke him up, got him to confess about two other women he'd attacked, recorded the whole thing, and gave him a few punches for retribution for hurting her friend. Sara tied him to a park bench with the recording device in his pocket. 

"Call the cops, and let them know where they can find this miserable excuse of a human being."

Oliver placed the call in his disguised voice then switched back over to Sara, "See you in a few minutes." 

Felicity had already put her head down on her desk though, and Oliver gave in to his protective instincts and and gently rubbed her back to wake her up. They hadn't even taken a look at the cut on her neck in their rush to catch Derek. 

"Felicity, I need to take a look at your neck. I think it's stopped bleeding, but I should clean it up." 

She pulled her hair into a messy bun, and let Oliver get to work. As he was cleaning up the first aid supplies, Sara walked down the stairs holding one pair of charcoal heels and Felicity's purse. 

"Sara, thank you so much for everything. I really appreciate it." 

"What are friends for?" asked Sara as she handed Felicity her purse. 

Felicity grabbed Sara's hand and pulled her into an unexpected hug before whispering, "Thanks for helping me train." 

"Any time. Oliver, you should take Felicity home. I'll let you know when the police pick up Derek." 

Oliver looked down at Felicity, and grabbed her hands to help her up. He looked like he was about to pick her up again when she blushed and proclaimed, "You're going to carry me again aren't you? Well I'm not a damsel." 

"If you don't let me carry you, Sara's giving you a piggy back ride." 

Felicity smiled weakly at Sara who nodded in agreement, and gave in to being carried. Though she hated to admit it, the absolute safety she felt when Oliver carried her slightly overwhelmed her. It made her mind spin in a way that was unfamiliar and hard to process at that moment.

~

On the quiet ride to her apartment, Felicity fell asleep and awoke to the sound of Oliver cursing when he couldn't find her apartment keys in her handbag.

"Oliver, give me the bag. And yes please, I'll take that the amusement park ride that is Oliver Queen carrying me up stairs. I don't even know if I could make it upstairs without an injured ankle right now."

"Okay good, I was trying to get you upstairs and inside without waking you up. But your purse has more stuff than Thea keeps in hers. And that is a feat I'd never thought I'd see."

"How many women do you know that keep spy gadgets in their purse?" 

"Good point," Oliver said as he picked her up once again. "We should get some ice on that ankle." 

~ 

Ten minutes later, Felicity was sitting on her couch dressed in MIT sweatpants and an old t-shirt with an ice pack wrapped around her left ankle. Felicity wasn't sure what Oliver's plans were now that she was settled. She really wanted him to stay until she fell asleep because being alone was scary right now. She looked at him sitting on the couch next to her, and he didn't look like he intended to leave any time soon.

"Oliver, will you watch a movie with me until I fall asleep? You can just leave me here on the couch. I just still feel anxious and overwhelmed. It was just so different than Arrow stuff. I thought, 'Hey I'm doing something completely safe and fun.' Boy, was I wrong."

With a look of concern, Oliver asked "What movie do you want to watch? I see you have quite a collection on your bookshelf."

"Hmm, something without violence that will make me sleepy quickly." 

"Let's go with a classic. How about The Apartment? Black and white tends to make me sleepy, how about you?"

"Perfect," said Felicity with a yawn. 

Oliver started the movie and plopped back down closer to Felicity who grabbed a pillow, and propped it up against Oliver's leg so she could recline and keep her ankle elevated. 

"You comfortable? This way you can probably sneak out of here without waking me up." 

"Yep, but I'm not going to "sneak out of here." This is where I want to be. Watching an old romantic comedy with my Girl Friday. I haven't been laughing much lately. This is probably good for me."

"Thank you for being here." 

Oliver flashed his characteristic grin down at her before pushing play.

~

"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD!" 

Felicity shot up and looked around her living room. The last thing she remembered was feeling a little embarrassed by how nice it felt for Oliver to rub circles on her back as she fell asleep...

"Hey, Felicity, it was a dream," Oliver interjected while putting his hand on her shoulder to ground her back into reality.

Felicity noticed that the TV screen was black, and that there was a blanket pulled over her legs. The icepack lay on a puddle on the coffee table. And Oliver had clearly also fallen asleep based on his ruffled hair. 

"Oh, um. I'm sorry I yelled. I don't think that's ever happened to me before but it just felt so real and -" 

"I totally get it. I have nightmares too. We really didn't get a chance to talk about how you felt tonight. We got the Felicity is a badass side, but are you really okay?" 

"I will be. It was just very sudden. And like with Arrow stuff, I know I'm putting myself in danger. This was supposed to be my relaxing, fun evening. And there I was being attacked. And I definitely came up with a strategy really fast that worked, but it was just so, well disgusting to feel him pressed up against me and kissing me. I wish there was another word for kissing when it's against your will. It's kinda ruining the word for me right now. And when I got away, I was just shocked I had escaped. I barely even looked where I was going. I just knew that I had to get to the Foundry. I knew you and Sara would help me."

Somewhere around the words "being attacked," Oliver slid closer to Felicity and held her hand, making little circles with this thumb over her pulse point. 

"Have I told you recently that you're remarkable Felicity Smoak?" 

"Not recently enough," Felicity said with a grin.

"You should try going back to sleep, you are going to be sore in the morning."

"My heart is still whirring really really fast. I need to calm down. So this sounds like a ridiculous request, and it definitely makes me sound as if I'm trying to seduce you which I'm not because you're with Sara and you're my best friend and boss. And -"

"Felicity, what would you like me to do?"

"Can you hug me or like cuddle with me until I fall asleep? It's proven that cuddling releases oxytocin which is the chemical that causes warm happy safe feelings. I have the book over there if you need to see the study. I think it's in the index but I can probably find the -"

"Felicity, I believe you, I don't need to see any study. Hmm, what will be comfortable for both of us... Here put your legs over my lap. And lean your head against my chest."

A minute later, Felicity was settled with Oliver's arm around her shoulder and the sound of his heartbeat in her ear. Forcing herself not to overthink the situation, Felicity quietly murmured, "Thank you," before falling asleep.

~

The light woke Felicity up many hours later, and she found herself neatly tucked into her bed. She noticed a pair of crutches nearby. Her glasses were on the bedside table next to a note. 

Felicity,

I hope you slept well. I went out this morning and got you some crutches, but the Oliver Queen amusement park ride is happy to carry you around should accident ever befall you again. I'm sure the Diggle amusement park ride would be happy to join in on the fun.  
Call if you need me.

\- Oliver

**Author's Note:**

> My goal was to make this sweet without a fairytale ending. I feel pretty strongly that Felicity needs more development and background before being thrown into a relationship that defines her life. Thoughts?
> 
> Also, how do we keep things in italics when posting it?


End file.
